SAT Reading Comprehension: Assumption Questions:

These questions are the ones in which the evil of the SAT might reach its depths. The reason is that, by definition, assumptions are things that people never think about. For example, when you wake up, you never think about whether you're breathing. You just assume that you're breathing. But assumption questions require you to think about what the authors themselves did not think about when they were writing the passages.

For that reason, assumptions are never stated directly in the reading passage. Instead you have to identify them through statements that the author makes.

WHAT DO ASSUMPTION QUESTIONS LOOK LIKE?:

In line __, the author assumes that
According to the passage, most ___ rely on the assumption that ___
The author's assumption in the __ paragraph is that
A major assumption of the passage is that
The author apparently believes that
Line(s) __ reveal the assumption that
Line(s) are based on the assumption that

TIP FOR ASSUMPTION QUESTIONS:

Assumptions do not come from nowhere. They are underneath the statements that are made. These statements are what you read in the SAT reading passages.

Example
Statement A: Is it light outside?
Statement B: What do you think? It is 1 PM.
Assumption: If it is 1 PM, then it must be light outside.

See how the statements themselves have main ideas (nouns). These main ideas in the statement always appear in the assumption. The trick is to read the statement that the reading question asks about and to identify its main ideas. These main ideas will appear in the correct answer choice for any assumption question.

SAT Reading: Assumption Questions

Lesson Includes:

—Overview of Assumption Questions

— What Do Assumption Questions Look Like?

—Tips for Assumption Questions

SAT Math

SAT Writing

SAT Reading

SAT Vocabulary